Keeping an animal healthy and clean includes grooming their fur to remove loose hairs and debris. Various combs and brushes have been marketed that do well in one situation or the other. Richard Gordon describes a grooming comb for pets in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,457, issued Jan. 24, 1989. It comprises a combined shredding and grooming tool made from a strip of plastic with two different types of comb teeth on its edges, and handles on opposite ends.
Frederick Eckert describes a grooming element in U.S. Pat. No. 1,285,957, issued Nov. 26, 1918. A brush with a handle is provided that is said to be especially good at removing mud and dirt from the legs of draft animals. Several parallel even loops of wire are each anchored at both ends and bow out from a backing board. The wire loops are drug crosswise across the dirt to be brushed off.
Hugo Ewart describes a currycomb in U.S. Pat. No. 753,056, issued Feb. 23, 1904, that is essentially made entirely from wire. A brush arrangement is made by twisting rows of wire to form loops that act like teeth or bristles. Several rows of these are set in parallel and a wire-formed handle is attached.
Another currycomb or card cleaner is described by Charles Flanders in U.S. Pat. No. 717,377, issued Dec. 30, 1902. Here, a snap-on grille is placed over the bristles of a brush. When the bristles load up with hair, the hair is easily removed by removing the grille.
A linked chain-mail wire material is wrapped around the drum of a brush and handle to form a round currycomb brush in U.S. Pat. No. 681,707, issued Sep. 3, 1901, to James Johnson. The rounded teeth-like projections of the interlinked parallel coils of wire do not get clogged and are easily cleaned.
William Cole describes a horse cleaner brush in U.S. Pat. No. 463,942, issued Nov. 24, 1891. A round handle supports a cylindrical frame over which several parallel straight wires are longitudinally strung. The strings resemble those of a violin, but wrap around the entire circumference over a grooved head at the end opposite to the handle. The string tension is made adjustable to make the wires taut.
Orlando Jenness describes a curry comb in a flat brush arrangement with a handle in U.S. Pat. No. 360,301, issued Mar. 29, 1887. Several strands of twisted ribbons of metal are arranged in parallel above a box-like frame and backer board. These “bars” are traversely dragged across an animal's fur to clean and groom it. The resulting comb is said to control dust and provide a very long service life.
What is needed is a bush that grooms animals quickly and efficiently, and that is easy to clean and use again.